


If Found

by DollyPop



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Collars, Established Relationship, F/M, Mild Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 00:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6031102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DollyPop/pseuds/DollyPop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Maybe you should get her a collar," Spirit said with a grin. “Tag it with ‘Return to Patchwork Labs When Lost’.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Found

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CorvidConundrum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorvidConundrum/gifts).



> Because nothing says Valentine's Day like some kink. <3

Just a little bit more.

Barely even a milliliter left to pour into the concoction and he’d be able to observe the results. He hypothesized that the fresh meat would turn the pale pink color of the muscle fibers that were destroyed in the rabbit corpse he had on his operating table, and if that were the case, he might be able to isolate the cause of the atrophy he observed. It wasn’t often he got access to such fresh materials, so he needed to make certain that his surgeon’s hands didn’t fail him.

Steady.

_Steady._

**Fuck.**

The knocking came through the lab so loudly, he accidentally poured in the entire dropper’s worth of acid, and the mixture bubbled and hissed as though disappointed in him. He tasted copper on his tongue from where he’d bit his lip, and the scowl that etched itself on his face only got deeper when he flung the entire container into the sink, turning the cold water on immediately before the chemical scent burned his sinuses to hell and back.

Immediately, he focused his soul perception, looking at his door to determine who it was that had destroyed his results, and he immediately wanted to pinch his nose when he pinpointed the soul.

Spirit. Of course it was Spirit. No one else save for Maka’s mother had ruined more of his experiments. If it were anyone other than Spirit, he’d probably be surprised. But his irritation was curbed when he noted the brighter, warmer soul that was with him.

Marie must have forgotten her key when she went to the market. That, or she lost it like she was usually lost, misplacing it in a pocket in one of her other skirts. The knocking came in louder, and Stein was certain that Spirit would start hollering his name if he didn’t answer, and he really wasn’t in the mood for that.

Stein didn’t even have it in him to sigh when he slung off his gloves, looking at the ruined parts in the sink as though mournfully before he stood and made his way to the door, flinging it open as Spirit went to knock again.

Stein’s brow went up when he took notice of Spirit’s hovering hand, stopped barely a centimeter before Stein’s nose, and the doctor smirked, stretching the stitches on his face.

“Ah, Senpai. Come to offer your organs?” Stein said, his cheerful tone and twisted smile instantly causing Spirit to flinch, curling backward just a tad as he slunk closer to Marie.

And, speaking of Marie, she only shook her head, ready to elbow her way into the lab. Her usually warm, expressive face was flushed in what Stein could only assume was embarrassment, her amber eye rolling as she huffed, holding the shopping bag full of groceries close to her chest.

“He doesn’t mean it, Spirit.”

“I assure that I do,” Stein clarified, enjoying the sight of Spirit’s face draining of blood, the man’s skin turning paler than a sun-bleached bone.

Marie shook her head, ducking down even farther as she tried to make her way into the lab, but Stein shifted to the side, barring her as his smile grew even more menacing. “Are you staying for dinner, Senpai?”

Spirit’s gulp was audible, his hands coming up to shake about, as though in a nervous gesture of peace.

“Ah, haha. Ha. No! I, uh, just wanted to bring this one home,” Spirit said, looking down at Marie.

“And now I’m home, thank you, goodnight-“ Marie began, trying to scamper into the lab once more, only to be blocked by Stein’s torso. She huffed, folding her arms and looking up at him. “What? Do I need permission like I’m a vampire?” she asked, her eyebrow twitching.

Spirit snickered at the scene, seeming to get over his fear once Stein had his sights on someone else. “Ah, don’t mind her,” he commented, “she’s just got her panties in a twist since she got lost trying to go to the market.” With that, he didn’t hesitate to throw his arm around Marie’s shoulders, hugging her to his chest. “But it was a good thing Papa Spirit was around to save her or she’d be gone forever!” he boasted, grinning.

Perhaps he’d have escaped unscathed had he not continued. Stein would have to conduct some tests to see why Spirit had such poor impulse control. It could be that his brain wasn’t sending singles fast enough, because his cheerful grin turned lecherous when he looked at Stein once more, lifting his brows.

“Maybe you should get her a collar. Tag it with ‘Return to Patchwork Labs When Lost’,” Spirit laughed out, and Stein didn’t even have to be in possession of a high IQ to know that prodding Marie was a poor idea. The woman had a temper that could level mountains. And by could, he means HAS. So he wasn’t surprised in the slightest when Marie’s face flushed bright pink, her indignant squeak bringing her voice up a full octave when she slammed her elbow against Spirit’s gut, effectively getting his arm off of her as he hunched over with a groan, grasping his stomach.

“You pervert!” Marie cried out, clutching her hand to her chest where she bunched her collar together between her fingers, and Stein’s eyes followed the motion, focused slightly upward, taking in the creamy column of her neck.

This time, he moved to the side as Marie stomped her way into the lab, her miniscule frame somehow making half the house shake as she stormed in, and Stein shook his head when Spirit choked out “You don’t know your own strength!”

“Wow, you’re dumb,” Stein commented, feeling a chuckle bubble up in his torso as Spirit weakly flipped him off, collecting himself and standing up, however unsteadily.

“Death, she needs to learn how to take a joke,” Spirit said, his voice sounding strained, and Stein didn’t even put in the effort to shake his head.

“Thank you for bringing her, Senpai,” Stein said, listening in to Spirit’s “yeah, yeah,” as he grumbled, turning around and making his way back to his own home. Or, more likely, to Chupa Cabra’s.

Stein closed the door, his mind effectively off his failed experiment and his spirits slightly lifted at the comedic act he had witnessed. Still, he couldn’t help but replay what Spirit had said, turning the phrase over and over in his brain as he made his way to where Marie was putting groceries away, muttering to herself.

“Stupid Spirit…pervert…ugh!” he heard, the remainder being cut away or obscured by the sound of peanut butter being shoved into a cabinet. When she stood up on tiptoes, trying to put away what looked like jam onto a cupboard a tad too tall for her, he decided to strike, coming behind her and plucking the object from her grasp, easily able to put it away.

Marie, however, must have been too immersed in her grumbling, because she gasped, whirling around and finding herself stuck between the kitchen counter and Stein’s torso.

Though the blush on her face hadn’t gone down from Spirit’s joke, it seemed to intensify by being in such close proximity to him. He knew she was constantly wary of revealing their relationship to anyone, what with the world falling around their ears, so she was already so ruffled.

He smirked. She was endearing, his Marie. And she just made it too easy, sometimes. She wore every emotion she had on her sleeve, and as she gazed up at him, her head tipped back as she leaned her weight against the counter, he curled in a little closer to her, letting his expression grow amused.

“Something the matter?” he questioned, and Marie swallowed, taking in a deep breath.

“No. I just need to put the groceries away,” she told him, flicking her gaze to the side where the bag was on the counter, still looking all too riled up.

“Your soul is flustered, Marie,” Stein said, and he let his grin take over almost half of his face when she blushed even deeper. “Taking Spirit’s comments to heart?”

At that, her soul jumped, her eye widening as she looked at him, seeming to breathe just the tiniest bit harder. “What? No! Of course not!”

Ah, so she _was_. He didn’t know she was into that. He knew most of what she was interested in trying, but he wouldn’t have been able to assume that she’d want something like _that_. In fact, he had avoided leaving hickeys on her neck, since he simply assumed that she would want to keep her shirt open at the throat, that she wouldn’t want a mark like that.

“A collar, hm?” Stein said, looking particularly amused when he let his hand come to Marie’s shoulder. She shuddered beneath his touch but it wasn’t unpleasant, he could tell by her wavelength and how she leaned to him, her gaze flicking all over his face. Slowly, his long fingers crept over her, casually opening her collar open even wider as his palm came over her chest, where he felt her heart beating as though in double time. He’d need a metronome for the exact measurement, and he was tempted to get one just to document just how much she was affected by such simple motions.

“Stein?” she asked, her warm gaze settling on him, her pupil dilated.

He had barely done anything at all, and he couldn’t help the feelings of smugness when she shifted, thighs undoubtedly rubbing beneath her skirt, her skin warming beneath his touch. His palm brushed her chest as his fingertips skimmed where her collarbones met, and he listened in to her inhale.

Carelessly, he grasped the silver chain she wore about her throat with a smirk on his face. There was always a spike of pride in him when he saw her wearing it. She kept her throat bared to the world, foolishly, perhaps, but the chain was always present: the one he had gotten her when he first made her a Death Scythe when she was just sixteen, and he rolled the silver between his thumb and index finger, his pinky resting on her heated skin. Her breath caught in her throat once more and his own pulse jumped when he saw her lower lip drop.

Slowly, he hunched in until he was closer to her height level, and she leaned forward as though to try to kiss him, as they had done many times since they got together while on the run. But he put more pressure against her chest, keeping her from meeting him in the middle and denying her the gratification. He felt her swallow once more and he was instantly reminded of how much he wanted to wrap his hand around her throat and feel her pulse.

That was for another time, however. He had already botched one experiment, he wasn’t about to mess this one up.

“Aren’t you already wearing a collar, Marie?” he asked, and all his years of smoking made his voice ragged and harsh, his pitch dropping naturally. Marie inhaled sharply, a tatter of his name in her throat, and he felt the pleasure at his accusation thrum in her soul.

Well, there was _that_ confirmation.

He let his hold on her necklace drop, his fingertips taking a single second to skitter over her flesh until he pulled away completely, giving her a lazy smirk as he took in her flushed face, her arousal evident through their connection.

“Well, Marie?”

“I, um, what?” she asked, looking dazed. He let a chuckle slip from his mouth.

“Spirit may be on to something. Perhaps we _should_ invest in tags,” he hinted, laughing lowly for a moment as Marie’s full mouth opened once more, her cheeks high in color.

When she said nothing, could say nothing, he only grinned.

Judging by her reaction, it seemed that he’d have to invest in some silver. 


End file.
